


Musical theater trash

by xxhhunter



Series: Musical AU [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Moulin Rouge References, Musical References, hairspray references, me and Nina made a musical geeks au, they are both little shits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-14 06:02:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8001229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxhhunter/pseuds/xxhhunter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Love is like oxygen” He continued, eyes flickering to the paper in his hands - Cronus knew he would want to start from the top because of that little slip. His gestures were contained, since they were outside, but Kankri sounded as if he believed every word he said. And he could only watch as the boy sitting across from him illuminated his face in a crescendo “- love is a many-splendored thing! Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love!”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Musical theater trash

**Author's Note:**

  * For [4thesakeofcriticism](https://archiveofourown.org/users/4thesakeofcriticism/gifts).



“Do you believe in beauty?” Cronus said, feigning confusion.

“Yes.”

“Freedom?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Truth?”

“Yes.”

“Love?”

“Love?” Kankri replied, full of emotion. It almost made Cronus feel bad for not trying too hard. The boy continued without hesitation “Love... Above all things, I believe in love.”

They sat on the damp grass behind the café in the Academy of Arts, jeans dirty by now, hands filled with blocks of paper and many, many heavy words that Cronus couldn’t help but not want to memorize. He’d rather just sing most of it, leave the acting to the actors. Kankri seemed to be one to enjoy such things.

“Love is like oxygen” He continued, eyes flickering to the paper in his hands - Cronus knew he would want to start from the top because of that little slip. His gestures were contained, since they were outside, but Kankri sounded as if he believed every word he said. And he could only watch as the boy sitting across from him illuminated his face in a crescendo “- love is a many-splendored thing! Love lifts us up where we belong. _All you need is love!_ ” He concluded, and Cronus blinked, watching him do his thing. He knew Christian was the best part anyone could want to get in this play, but they wouldn’t dream of letting anyone but Kankri be him. It’s as if he was born to be the french Orpheus. His voice resonated as if Cronus was actually watching the play, and he found himself staring at the other for a second. 

That is, until he realized Kankri was waiting for him to say something. 

He tensed his shoulders and looked down at his own copy of the script, reading fast to try and find the last words Kankri said, he knew that would earn him a lecture about not paying attention to rehearsals, which would lead to a lecture about how theatre wasn’t about talent but about hard work, and how much Kankri had it hard and Cronus had it easy on this cold hearted world and blah blah blah. He frowned, not finding the right line on the paper in his rush.

“Cronus?” Kankri asked impatiently.

“I got lost.” He admitted sheepishly, looking up from the script. Kankri made a show of sighing, twisting his nose. It was cute.

 

“Where?” He asked, annoyed.

“In your eyes?” The other tried a charming smile, which only earned him a roll of eyes. Well, he had been told he wasn’t as charming as he thought. “Sorry. My character doesn’t come up for like thirty pages. Wouldn’t it be better to just rehearse with the others here? This is getting nowhere.”

That was obviously the wrong thing to say, he realized when Kankri huffed, closing his copy of Moulin Rouge in a - in Cronus’ opinion - exaggerated display of irritation. “If it’s that _useless_ to review my lines with me, I _suppose_ it would be in order to _release you from this terrible prison.”_

Cronus held himself before he could make a face. Actors, man. Always so _dramatic._

 

It had been only a few months since Cronus had ‘man-ed’ up to ask Kankri Vantas, top of the drama class, out for a date. It had been terrible, they had know each other for almost too many years then but still anyone could see how awkward they were together. They had pizza for dinner that night, Cronus still wonders why the hell he let Eridan convince him taking Kankri for pizza and a movie was a good idea - he had started to talk about ‘Americans destroying european culture’ before he even got to the second slice. And of course, Cronus hadn’t even had the chance to join in his soliloquy. As it usually played with Kankri. He talked. You listened.  
The best strategy so far had been to not say anything that could engage him into a monologue, but a man could only step in so many eggshells, and when they disagreed in so many things it was practically impossible for Cronus Ampora not to have a say here and there.  
So they argued. Well, mostly Kankri argued, and Cronus was left to curse himself and his damned mouth as he had to sit through thirty seven texts with words he could only assume the other picked from a Shakespearean play. That when he was lucky enough not be in the actual presence of the sweater-clad boy.

But he had to admit, Kankri had passion. For everything that he chose to do. And although that inspired long speeches about things the blond boy couldn’t care less about he was still entailed to admire him. He had entered the Academy before Cronus, because, apparently, he wanted to become the most annoying broadway star ever to live. But at least he had done it for himself. He had an opinion for everything, from brands of clothes to kinds of chocolates, from curly hair to whether you should use a pencil or a pen. Environment, Feminism, police brutality, anything you said, Kankri could link it to politics, to racism, ableism, ageism, and many other ‘isms’ Cronus had never heard about until he had to actually sit down in a table with the other.  
Kankri, Cronus thought, had been born with a message dug deep inside him, that he had to share with everyone on his way. Either they liked it or not. And that had been enough to grab his attention back in High School. That and the way he got easily enraged when people disagreed with him. _God, Kankri was an asshole._ But a cute one, and his anger didn’t bother him so much now that Cronus had seen how visibly he could blush, despite his darker skin.

If he said it out loud, Kankri would probably kill him.

“- that’s why rehearsing is about _shaping the play together!_ You can’t possibly think you can just do everything on your own and then just slap it together on opening night! It’s about learning your lines, but other people’s too, do you even see where I’m going with this?” 

There he was. All authentic and passionate. Being relevant and true to himself. Had he been talking all along? 

“Do you?” His boyfriend repeated, his script was open again on his lap, so Cronus assumed he had been forgiven for earlier, and just nodded. “Sure, I do.”  
Kankri seemed satisfied with that answer, and smiled lightly at him, nodding back. “Well, then. See? _You can’t fool us?”_

Cronus tensed again, raising an eyebrow. What was he on about now? “Huh? Who’s fooling you?”

His boyfriend tapped the heavy block of paper in his lap, sighing at him one more time “Toulouse’s line? _‘You’re the voice of the children of the revolution’_?” He pointed the part of the script Cronus should read. He let out an “Aah…” in understanding, before mumbling mockingly, adjusting his own script to his eyes. “ _That_ you certainly are.”

“I’m sorry?”

“ _‘Let’s drink to the new writer of the world’s first bohemian revolutionary show!’_ ” He continued with the play in a louder tone of voice. And luckily, this once, Kankri decided he wasn’t worth the trouble, and continued to rehearse just the same. 

As Cronus had expected they didn’t get further than the first few scenes that day, the Duke had barely showed up in the story when they decided to gather their things and go. Cronus offered to carry Kankri’s bag, which the other accepted distractedly, still eyeing the script as they walked. It made Cronus feel less like a gentleman and more like a mule. He had yet to learn not to be disappointed at how Kankri chose to be in this relationship. They didn’t kiss after rehearsing that day. Didn’t hold hands on the way back into the building, nor when they sat down to get a cup of coffee before going home. 

Admittedly, he had tried playing footsie, but that had only earned him an eyebrow raise in the middle of a tale about this one actor from Broadway that Cronus never heard of. _How come you never heard of him? He was in Wicked!_ Blah blah blah as usual. He couldn’t help but tone out the words and focus on Kankri’s face as he spoke, specially when he would rather be playing footsie under the table. The boy probably walked around in his heavy red sweater all day to warm his body from his _cold, dark heart._ He held back a smile from his own thoughts, maybe Kankri’s drama was rubbing on him. 

“Are you listening?”

“Always do, don’t I?”

He smiled genuinely at that, if a bit shyly, nodding quietly as he took a sip of his tea. Alright, maybe his heart wasn’t _that_ cold. Cronus smiled back, putting his open palm on the table to be blatant obvious until his boyfriend did let one hand go of his tea to place it on top of his. Holding hands, that was what Cronus was there for. Kankri kept talking, but now he could have his fun seeing the boy get distracted every time Cronus innocently stroked his thumb on his hand.  
\--

“Kankri.”

“Hm.”

_“Kankri.”_

He finally looked up from his book, shifting slightly. Cronus waved slightly from the other side of his tv room and he was nice enough to turn down the volume on his laptop. Not that Cronus didn’t appreciate the sound of ABC Cafe/Red and Black playing in the background, but were they even supposed to be listening to a different play’s songs when they were supposed to be practicing for Moulin Rouge? “Yes, Cronus?”

“Are you going to read all afternoon?”

Kankri seemed actually taken aback by the question, and looked from him to the book in his hand - it was a russian one, Anna Karenina, Cronus wouldn’t get close to a book like that if he saw it in the library but the other seemed to enjoy it. “I thought you were on your phone, so…”

“I just checked it for a second while you went to get the laptop.” He defended. He wasn’t allowed upstairs yet, Kankri mentioned his father has some kind of house rule. _No dates in the bedroom when the house was empty._ It was a bit stupid, really, if the house was empty they didn’t need to go to the bedroom to make out. Not that they were going to make out, apparently. There was a coffee table and a sofa of distance between them. “You know, when you invited me here I thought it had been as your 'secret' boyfriend.”

Kankri just furrowed in confusion. He was playing innocent, there’s absolutely _no way_ he was this dense, Cronus rolled his eyes. “How so?” The other asked, closing his book. 

“Well,” he got his phone to read the text again “You said ‘would you like to come over to pass the time? I’m home alone for the day.’ That’s _Kankrish_ for Netflix and Chill, right?”  
“I have no idea what you mean. We’re passing time, aren’t we?”  
“I was actually expecting something more…”  
Kankri got visibly defensive at that, awaiting the criticism. He was never good with that. “More?”

Cronus checked his throat, he knew he’d better pick up the right word next. He breathed in, averting his eyes as he looked for a good one. “Uh-”

“No, _pray tell._ What is wrong with spending time like this?” Aw, man. Getting Kankri angry would be counterproductive now.

“Well, I did expect something less ‘old couple’ and more-” He was digging his grave there. Well, there went nothing. “Supercalifra... gilistic... You know what? Forget it.” Fuck. Lame. Was that really his best plan to distract him from fighting?  
That had brought a surprised snicker from Kankri, though. And Cronus savoured his victory, smiling proud.  
“Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?”  
Bingo. Kankri wouldn't lose a chance to show how much he knew musicals better than him. “Yeah, yeah. That.” He sat straighter, wondering if he could just go and sit near the other, or would that scare him off? And since when did he treat Kankri like a scared wild animal? He couldn’t pretend he didn’t enjoy seeing the other looking amused at him. “ _Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious._ ” He repeated proudly.

“Is musical theatre growing on you, Ampora?” The other mocked lightly, book forgotten by now as he, too, sat straighter. Cronus ran a hand on his hair to fix it in place, wondering briefly if Kankri was just acting or was he really that happy that he mentioned Mary Poppins on a conversation.  
“I had a childhood too, Vantas.”  
“You know, that’s an actual word.” The other explained, pulling his feet up to the sofa, sitting on his legs. “It’s an adjective for something wonderful, or magical. It means ‘atoning for educability through delicate beauty’”  
Cronus hummed in understanding, moving to sit on the sofa closer to Kankri’s, not yet there. Still, it was obvious enough, and made the other lose his footing a bit. As if he hadn’t been flirting first, with the whole talk about wonderfulness and ‘delicate beauty’. _Please, Kankri._

“But... in the play it’s just a word to say when you have nothing to say.” Yeah, sure. Cronus nodded, obviously not caring one bit about what he was saying, scooting closer until he was one scoot from passing on to Kankri’s sofa. “Very interesting.”

“Don’t condescend me, Cronus.”

“Uh-huh. Can I sit there?” He pointed the empty space next to the other. Kankri groaned knowingly under his breath, but nodded. He tried to focus on something else as Cronus stood up swaggering to sit close to him, probably closer than he should. The laptop started another song, from Hairspray, and Kankri tried to focus on that, feigning obliviousness as the other’s arms rested on the back of the sofa, around his shoulders. Cronus was the opposite of discreet. Only god knew how he still managed to seem smooth. It had to be the blue eyes. 

“So.” The blond said, forcing Kankri’s politeness to turn his face towards him. Cronus _knew_ his face was too close, the bastard. “What do you want to talk about?” He asked innocently.

Kankri was having none of it. “I’m not falling for that again.”

“Falling for what?” The other’s smile was obviously fake. 

“ _You know what._ You just want me to start talking so you can interrupt me!” 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Would you stop? I know what you’re up to. If you’d rather not have a trustful, simple conversation don’t _engage_ me in one, this is not what this is about and I thoroughly suggest you stop playing games with me just because you say you like it when I--”

To be completely honest, Kankri felt a bit disappointed when he wasn’t interrupted by a kiss, but by the monstrous ring coming from Cronus’ phone. _Shit._ He thought, feeling the other back away a bit to frown at his phone’s screen.  
“Shit.” Cronus mumbled, equally annoyed. “I have to take this, one second.”

He suppressed a groan of irritation once the other stood up to answer the phone, it would be embarrassing to show how much it annoyed him. Whoever was calling better have some life-changing news to deliver quickly and be done with it. Kankri faintly heard Cronus say “Hey, Eridan?” while putting the phone to his ear, walking to the other room. He pulled at the sleeves of his own sweater, and shifted to stretch his legs again. At least it wasn’t Mituna, he had learned from last’s play that ‘Enjolras’ and ‘Grantaire’ could spend hours talking about absolutely nothing _instead of practicing._ He kicked his feet impatiently, feeling a bit stupid for waiting for the other to come back and _kiss him_ , standing up by instinct just to pace the tv room. The mood was ruined anyway.

“Sorry about that.” Cronus came back in, pocketing his phone. He looked at the spot Kankri had been on the couch, somewhat disappointed he had moved. What? Like they could just ‘unpause’ and go back to where they were? Kankri scoffed, standing by the bookshelf. “Anything important?”

“Eridan calling, they were about to go to bed and had to update me on some sibling stuff. Time zones and all.”

“Understandable.” It was, really. He would have answered his phone right away if it had been Karkat to call. Mostly because Karkat never called, and if he did he was probably dying in a ditch somewhere and needed immediate help. Still, there were other times to talk about ‘sibling stuff’. He wished Eridan would have just texted. “So, shall we practice that scene you were having problems with?”  
Cronus frowned, as if he had grown a second head. “Practice?”  
“The director said we should help each other, right? I’ll go get the script.”  
“We’re not sitting?” He heard Cronus call from the bottom of the stairs, but just shrugged.  
“You can sit if you’d like, I’ll be right back.”

The sound that came from downstairs was a long, annoyed groan as Cronus flopped back on the sofa, cursing his own life.

\--

“Again?”  
“Again.”

 

“We’ve been practicing this same bit since that day at your place, can’t we go do a different one?” Cronus mumbled, adjusting his guitar on his back, Kankri walked with him through the garden of the Academy “I mean, we practice the other bits with everyone in the morning, why do you want to waste you whole afternoon on this scene?”

“It’s not perfect yet, you know that.”

“Hadrian didn’t point out anything too bad.”

“But he did point things out, don’t you want to make it perfect?” He stopped by the door of the auditorium, keys in hand. “Doesn’t it make you feel better when you can go through an entire play and know you did it perfectly?”

“‘Wouldn’t know…” Cronus shrugged, not that interest, entering after him. They walked through the rolls of chairs, Cronus bringing his guitar and Kankri opening his bag on the way up to the stage. Curtains were rolled, the front stage was all theirs for practice.

“Well, it sure feels better than doing half a job.” He told him, setting his bag down on the apron and walking the rest of the way to the downstage, where he seemingly focused on positioning himself for acting, but decided against it, turning back to Cronus. “Would you rather do a different scene?”

“Obviously.” Cronus sat himself down at the apron, guitar on his lap as he dug into Kankri’s bag unashamedly, getting the script. “Maybe try out a few songs…”

The whole point of bringing the guitar was that the auditorium had some great acoustics, and the songs in this play were all equally entertaining and unique. It was all about burlesque in the end, wasn’t it? Cronus had planned on giving a go to El Tango de Roxanne, or maybe just figuring out his own lines in the scene with the Duke and the Bohemians singing Spectacular, Spectacular. Most of the time he’d rather focus on the music, and cabarets in France seemed to have good rhythm and nice lyrics, even if only for the musical itself. He wondered quietly if Kankri and the others had ever been to France to actually see the Moulin Rouge but it seemed unlikely so he just kept it to himself. “But whatever you want. Same lines again, hmm?”

Kankri had moved as he thought to himself, and when Cronus raised his eyes back from the script the boy was already way back in the upstage, his back to the curtains and looking at him, shrugging his shoulders. “We can try a scene with a song in it. It’s not like we have to rush home, the auditorium is free for hours, it would be a waste not to use it for some good. Although I’d rather be perfect at the ending scene we’re still only starting this, and you haven’t had that much time to play your part. Am I wrong to think so?”  
Cronus hesitated to answer, but only because he was busy thinking how the red curtains and red sweater somehow fitted around Kankri so well. Certainly his colour. Kanaya would have to keep that in mind when making Christian’s costume for the play. He straightened his back once the other started moving again, watching him take some measured steps around. For a second Kankri just seemed to wander aimlessly on the stage, but eventually he headed back to where Cronus was sitting, taking the papers from his hand to look at them. “Do you want to try Spectacular, Spectacular?”  
“It’s the only song we’re both in.” Cronus nodded, reasoning. Kankri hummed in agreement and mentioned for him to stand up.  
“Let’s do the entire scene, then. We start from the break here, and we both read the other’s lines, once we get to the song we don’t skip it, we sing.”  
“Sounds like a plan, chief.”

They met in the acting area of the stage, Cronus having left his guitar back near their bags. He had the scrip in his left hand, page open in the right scene. Kankri was hands free, probably aiming to have the entire play marked in his brain in heated metal. “Ready?” The boy asked, looking up at the blond. “Tell me where to start.” he said, focused. And then he went dead quiet, awaiting his cue. Cronus nodded with disinterest, running his eyes through the pages and wondering which line should he start reading. Certainly one close enough to the song he’d like to sing, but how close was close enough for Kankri not to accuse him of skipping the scene?  
Had the pages in his hand been his own copy he was sure they wouldn’t have so many notes scribbled in red. Small parenthesis indicating how Kankri thought his own character would move, every line Christian spoke marked precisely with a red pen and, most likely, a ruler. Cronus went back a few pages and concluded that, yes. He was dating the nerdiest of the theatre nerds. He stopped at some random page, perhaps a bit too much before Spectacular, Spectacular, but he recognized the scene, and couldn’t help but go with it. It should be fun to watch. He checked his throat, dramatically, and took a step back, reading from the script, doing his best not to feel silly when he tried to act. “ _This is a wonderful place for a poetry reading._ ” He started, and realized immediately that Kankri recognized the line. He really was trying to learn the entire play by heart. Cronus checked the papers again before continuing “ _Don’t you think? Hmm? ‘Poetic’ enough for you?_ ”

“Are you serious, Cronus?”

“You’re losing character, now?” He mocked briefly, and Kankri straightened himself, challenged. His movements were much more fluent than Cronus’, but he sighed at him, knowingly, before continuing with the play. “ _Yes._ ”

“ _A little supper? Maybe some champagne?_ ”

“ _I’d rather just, um_ ” Kankri looked a bit off, as he was supposed to. Cronus wondered if he was embarrassed for real or just acting “ _Just get it over and done with._ ”  
The line made him chuckle at the actor, who glared at him, mentioning to the script with a nod of his head. _Right, right._ Cronus thought to himself, smiling lightly as they paced the stage. Steps echoing in the empty auditorium, the darkness of the backstage sending chills down his back. “I have no champagne to drop so just pretend I did.”

“You could just act instead of testing my patience.”

“Oh, are you impatient now? There are many pages to go still.”

“And you’re being difficult on purpose!”

Cronus chuckled, smirking at him as he walked without a care about following stage directions, reciting Meulin’s lines as he made circles around Kankri. _Like a shark._ Kankri thought to himself, eying the other.  
“ _Very well._ ” Cronus continued, stepping closer to stop in front of Kankri, raising an eyebrow to go with his smirk. “ _Then why don’t you… come down here? Let’s get it over and done with._ ”  
“ _I-I prefer to do it standing._ ” Kankri was blushing by now, Cronus felt victorious for that. “ _Oh?_ ”  
“ _You don’t have to stand. I mean, it’s quite long and I’d like you to be comfortable-”_  
“Uh-huh.”  
“-It’s quite modern what I do, and it may fe...feel a little strange at first, but I think--” Kankri started to lose his train of thought when Cronus’ fingers pulled him closer by the loops in his jeans. He stuttered a few words before closing his mouth in a firm line, avoiding his eyes in embarrassment, gaze fixed to the side. Cronus made a questioning noise, trying to pretend the sound of the pounding heart was coming from Kankri and not himself. Keep it smooth, Ampora. Urge him to go on. “What was that?”  
“I-I think,” Kankri gulped, his boyfriend leaning in to place a light kiss on his jawline. He basically mumbled the last few words “ _I think if you’re open, then you might enjoy it.”_

 _“I’m sure I will.”_ Cronus whispered against his skin, face buried on his neck, already working his hands around the other’s waist. He inhaled with a small whimper of protest, but Cronus kissed a line up his neck and Kankri suddenly found his hands holding onto his arms.  
“Cronus--” He tried, but stammered a bit on his words when cold fingers sneaked under his shirt to his lower back “We need to practice-!”  
“Let’s practice something else.” God, what a terrible one-liner. What did he see in this empty-headed greaser wannabe? Certainly he didn’t know from his looks that Cronus’ hands would leave him shivering and speechless just from running up his back like that. Kankri briefly tried to dig deep in his brain to remind himself which was the next line he had to say, perhaps any line he could use to distract himself, but as he was about to form a simple word Cronus pressed flush against him and all of the letters were scattered around, together with his resolve. _So be it._ He grabbed onto Cronus’ shirt, and that seemed like a good enough signal for the other to press his lips to his. _Grab your prize._ Cronus told himself, deepening the kiss as Kankri’s hands passed around his neck.  
Less than two minutes of innocent pecks and the musician was kneeling down, pulling Kankri with him to sit on his lap, one hand holding the back of the shorter boy’s head to direct him where he wanted. Their lips smacked soundly as Kankri let out a few unfocused breaths every time they disconnected for a second, and Cronus barely remembered what they had been doing before, as if they had started making out the moment they crossed the heavy doors of the auditorium.  
He pulled Kankri’s sweater up, and the other lifted his hands to help get rid of it, tossing the discarded cloth in the general direction of their other things. Now with more access to his skin Cronus made sure to lean in and leave a big red mark on the other’s collarbone. Kankri’s breath hitched and he closed his eyes, letting Cronus have it his way, focusing on just enjoying the wet sounds his kisses left on his skin.  
“Someone is going to get in.” He warned, half-heartedly, as his boyfriend leaned back to look at his face. He shook his head “No one will look here.”  
“You said the same thing about the broom closet.”  
He gave him an apologetic shrug, but went back to attacking his mouth. Kankri bit his bottom lip as some sort of petty revenge, but Cronus only growled in response, deepening the kiss again. There was some poetry in french-kissing your boyfriend in the middle of a stage, he just wasn’t sure anyone else would appreciate it as much as he did at that very moment, when Kankri’s tongue teased his bitten lip and he decided that their situation was far too vertical for his liking.  
He leaned forward, taking Kankri down lightly to lay in the wooden floor. The musician sat back for a second to inspect the damage: his boyfriend’s shirt was wrinkled, his hair disheveled and his lips red. Cronus felt some heat fly up to his face as he looked down at Kankri, laying on the floor and looking back at him. Maybe he was blushing from the sight, but Kankri was just as red, of that he was sure, and as he leaned in he decided not to aim for his neck again. Lifting his shirt a bit Cronus left a feather kiss on the other’s stomach, making his entire body freeze as he whimpered nervously, hands flying to grab at Cronus’ shoulders “What are you doing?”  
“Kissing?”  
“My mouth is up here!”  
Geez. That’s what he got for being original. He leaned on top of Kankri to meet his lips again, body flushed down against the other’s, mind clouded up by the noises he was making under him - small, short breathed noises that escaped under his breath in between kisses and were driving Cronus _insane._ The way they echoed in the acoustics of the room only helped his imagination. He target Kankri’s neck again, making him lift his chin as he nibbled and sucked as he pleased, earning a short moan and a hum, as the other tried to keep it down. It was amazing how Kankri Vantas had to be vocal about anything that he did. His fingers played with the shorter boy’s pants, but Kankri’s hands rushed to steady his, nervous.  
“Don’t -” He stuttered, as Cronus looked at him in confusion. “I--”  
“No problem.” Cronus said quickly, half scared the other would want to stop. In the end he was easily scared, like a wild animal. “Just kissing. Kissing is ok, right?”  
A nod. It was all he needed. Cronus gave him a reassuring smile before he went back to attacking his mouth once more. They spend an hour on it, snogging and grabbing at each other, the smacking sound of their lips filling their ears. Eyes closed, most of the time, unless they took a second to regain their breaths, which was usually accompanied by an exchange of glances, a shy smile or awkward chuckle, and then they went back to business.  
Once they were done, practicing lines was a long forgotten duty, and stepping out of the auditorium proved to be very awkward. The heavy doors blocked the sun perfectly, and it was easy to forget the day was still happening outside of the theatre. Once they got to the gardens and saw people still walking around, taking coffees in the outside tables across the pond, the sun halfway into it’s descend, they traded embarrassed glances about what they had been doing while locked away from the real world.

“So…” Cronus cleaned his throat, looking away “Want a ride home?”  
Kankri nodded quietly “If it isn’t too much trouble.”  
They didn’t hold hands while walking to the parking lot, but Cronus did notice Kankri was holding onto the guitar case on his back, and it kind of felt like a step in the right direction.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this at 4 am, send help


End file.
